Heat exchange unit



May 18,v 1965 M. w. METTENLEITER ETAL 3,183,967'

HEAT EXCHANGE UNIT Filed Dec. 29. 1961 a 7d 55 f I m/m E 2 f 2 J 34 /p M04 l y 9.5 a f a fz i l 5 ga Z: 95 r i-L: 52

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United States Patent O 3,183,967 IEAT EXCHANGE UNIT Michael W. Mettenleiter, 885 Park Ave., New York 21,

N.Y.; Paul R. Borchardt, 2383 Walton Ave., Bronx 68,

N Y.; and Winston Dindial, 147-58 Village Road,

Jamaica, NX.

Filed Dec. 29, 1961, Ser. No. 163,363 4 Claims. (Cl. 16S-83) The present invention relates to installations for rening liquid by distillation, and especially to installations of the character described which include a liquid evaporator and liquid condenser, each with a series of heat eX- change tubes wherein the liquid to be evaporated is passed, on the way to the evaporator, through the condenser and serves as the coolant for condensing the vapor and is preheated in the process.

In distillation installations of the character described, especially where the liquids to be distilled contain sedimentary materials or materials likely to form sediment which may settle and form scale on the walls of the heat exchange tubes, within or around which the liquid flows, the efficiency of the apparatus becomes impaired in time, due to the formation of scale, particularly on the interior surface of the heat exchange tubes, which sediment and scale act, both, to diminish the heat-transmitting capacity of the tube walls as well as to diminish their cross-sections for the passage of fluid therethrough.

Also, the sediment and scale, which in numerous instances may be of corrosive character, tend to corrode the tube walls. These effects of sediment formation required the frequent stoppage of the apparatus for cleaning the heat exchange tubes and for tube replacement.

Also, in the course of passage of liquid through the apparatus, especially cool liquid over warmed surfaces of the heat exchange tubes, there frequently was a formation of bubbles on the interior of the heat exchange tubes, which formed a heat insulating air layer on the tube surfaces and resulted in further reducing the efficacy of such tubes for heat exchange.

lt is an object of the present invention to provide distillations installations of the character described in which the formation of sediment and scaling on the heat exchange tubes is substantially prevented, to thereby maintain their heat exchange characteristics, substantially intact at all times, and their liquid passage capacity unaiiected, to thereby make their operation economical in the consumption of heat, as well as continuous and at top capacity.

It is another object of the present invention, to provide apparatus of the character described which are of relatively simple construction and wherein the sediment and scale formation is inhibited by relatively simple means, at relatively little cost.

Generally stated, the present invention utilizes an apparatus consisting of either or both a condenser and evaporator, each including a heat exchanger which may consist of a plurality of heat exchange tubes, which is resiliently or tlexibly mounted at one end or both ends and with which are associated means to apply short and rapid vibrations at predetermined intervals and for a predetermined length of time, to cause the repelling from the heat exchanger surfaces of any solids accumulating thereon and prevent them from setting and forming scaling that detracts from its heating efficiency.

Referring now more specifically to the embodiment of the invention more or less diagrammatically illustrated in the accompanying draw-ing, the same shows a distillation installation consisting of a condenser, generally designated as 10, and an evaporator, generally designated as 12, of the type which are interconnected to have raw liquid CTX ICC

introduced into the condenser to be warmed by the vapors formed in the evaporator, which are in turn condensed by the liquid introduced into the condenser.

The condenser 10 is shown to comprise an upright cylinder 14, capped at each end by domed caps 16 and 18, provided at their apices with openings 20 and 22, respectively.

Disposed in the cylinder 14 in spaced relation to the walls thereof are a plurality of upright heat exchange tubes 24, connected at their upper and lower ends by headers 26 and 28, respectively. The headers 26 and 28 are each flexibly connected in place, as by means of lexible cylindrical bellows 30 and 32, respectively, each connected to a plate 34 and 36, respectively, each of which is secured to one end of the cylinder 14, and each of which is formed with an opening 38 and 40, respectively, in the respective plates 34 and 36.

The evaporator 12 likewise comprises an upright cylinder 42, capped at the upper end by the domed cap 44, and closed at its bottom by a wall 46. Disposed within the cylinder 42 in spaced relation to the wall thereof are a plurality of flue pipes 43 disposed in upright position and connected at each end to a hollow cylindrical header and S2, respectively, forming an upper chamber 54 and a lower chamber 56. The ue pipes 4S are exibly supported in place, as by means of cylindrical bellows S8, secured by one end to the upper end of the wall of the upper chamber 54 and by its other end to a circular bracket 6l), secured to the upper end of the cylinder 14 above the chamber 56. The upper chamber 54 is provided with a top Wall 62 and with a fuel nozzle 64, extending through the cap 4e and through the bellows 58 and the wall 62 into the upper chamber 54. The lower header 52 is likewise supported by a exible bellows 65, titted around the upright wall of the downwardly opening lower chamber 56, whose upper end is secured to the upper end of the lower chamber 55 on its exterior and whose lower end is secured to a plate 65, iixed on the inside of the cylinder and provided with an opening 68, which loosely ts about the wall of the lower chamber 56 at a midpoint thereof.

The condenser 1t! is provided adjacent its lower end with a fluid inlet opening 7u, and adjacent its upper end with a fluid outlet opening 72, that is connected by a conduit 74 to an inlet opening 76 formed in the lower part of the evaporator 14. The upper end of the evaporator 14 is provided with a vapor outlet opening 78, which is connected by a conduit Si) to the opening 20 formed in the upper cap 16 of the condenser. The condenser 10 also has an opening 22 in its lower cap 18, which serves as a distillate outlet. The lower end of the evaporator cylinder 42 is provided with an outlet 84 thatleads to an outer ue for the gases of combustion.

Means are provided for vibrating the heat exchangers, preferably at each of their upper and lower ends. In the condenser 10 such means is shown to comprise openings 86 and 88, respectively, in the upper and lower portions of the wall of the cylindrical housing 14 thereof, opposite the headers 26 and 28, respectively. Passing through each opening 86 and 88 is the core 90 of an electromagnet whose coil, diagrammatically indicated at 92, is connectible in an electric circuit. The core 9i) is formed of a magnetostrictive material such as a suitable alloy of iron, nickel, Mionel or the like, which is in the form of a rod having an enlarged head 94. The core 90 is secured by the outer surface of its head 94 to the adjacent header 26 or 2S, as the case may be, and is resiliently supported in place in airetight and water-tight relation by means of a cylindrical bellows 96, tted loosely about it and its coil winding, one of whose edges is secured to the inner face of the core head 94 and its other edge to the inner marn: t ginal edge portion of the opening 86 or 88, as the case may be. The outer end of the core 90 may or may not be secured in place, as desired.

Similar heat exchanger vibrating means may be provided on the evaporator 12 by providing openings 98 and 100, respectively, at the upper and lower ends of the wall of the cylindrical housing 42 thereof, opposite the headers 50 and 52, respectively. The vibrating means each comprises a core 102, `similar in type to the cores 90 and likewise having a head 104 and secured by the head to the adjacent heat exchange unit header, and coil winding 106, connectible in an electric circuit tted around it. Each core 102 is similarly secured in place by a bellows 108, fitted loosely around it with one end thereof secured to the inner face of the core head 104 and the other end secured to the inner marginal edge portions of an opening 98 or 100, as the case may be. The free end of core 102 may or may not be held, as desired.

It will be apparent that when the coil of any of the cores 90 or 102 has an alternating current passed therethrough, its core 9) or 102, as the case may be, will expand lengthwise and retract under the effect of the rapidly pulsating alternating current, in accordance with the wellknown Joule effect, and cause -the heat exchanger, to whose header the core is connected, to vibrate conformingly. It will also be apparent that such vibration of the heat exchanger will shake olf any sediment from the liquid passing in or around it that may have settled upon the heat exchange unit surface before `such sediment becomes set as a wall-thickening and heat-insulating scale thereon, thus maintaining the walls of the heat exchanger at normal thickness and at maximum efficiency. It will also be apparent that such vibration of the heat exchanger is made possible by the resilient mounting thereof at each end, and by the resilient mounting of the electromagnet core secured to either one or both of the headers of the heat exchanger provided by the bellows 96 and 108, as the case may be.

Preferably, the upper and lower cores of each of the condenser and evaporator vibrating units are separately connected in the electric circuit in a manner that each one may be energized independently of the other. Still more preferably, each of the upper and lower electromagnets may be alternately selectively connectible in an alternating and direct current circuit, in a manner that when One of them is connected in the alternating current circuit for vibration, the other one will be connected to the direct current circuit that will keep it and the header to which it is connected in xed position.y In the latter systern, by alternatingly energizing each electromagnet for short periods of time with alternate current, while the other is energized by direct current, alternate vibration of each end of the heat exchanger, separately, is effected for most efficient discharge of sediment.

Each of the cylindrical housings 14 and 42 of the condenser and evaporator and 12, respectively, may be provided at its lower end with an outlet 112 and 114, respectively, through which the accumulated sediment shaken off from the respective heat exchanger may be removed.

It will also be `apparent that the frequent vibration of the heat exchangers will rid their surfaces from accumulated air bubbles that may also act as heat insulators.

This completes the description of the distillation apparatus of the present invention and the manner of its operation.` It will be readily apparent that the present invention makes possible great economies in its maintenance by reducing fuel requirements due to the maximum efficiency of the heat exchanger at which it is maintained, by eliminating time and labor involved in the re-activation of the apparatus, as Well as for frequent repair, as for tube replacement, that might be necessitated by scale formation on the heat exchanger. It will also be apparent that numerous modications and variations in the distillation apparatus of the present invention may be made by anyone skilled in the art, in accordance with the principles of the invention hereinabove set forth, and without the exercise of any inventive ingenuity. We desire, therefore, to be protected for any and all such modifications and variations that may be made within the spirit of the invention and scope of the claims hereto appended.

What we claim is:

1. In apparatus for the treating of liquids, an outer housing having inlet and outlet openings, a heat exchange unit within said housing, said heat exchange unit comprising spaced headers each having an opening and rigid tubes connecting said headers, means mounting said heat exchange unit within said housing comprising a bracket including a corrugated portion connecting each `said header and the wall of said housing, said brackets defining between them an air and liquid tight chamber within said housing, electromagnetic means extending through an opening in said housing connected to said heat exchange unit for imparting rapid vibration to said unit, and a resiliently exible sleeve surrounding said electromagnetic means defining an air and liquid tight chamber therearound between said housing and said heat exchange unit.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said electromagnetic means are connected to at least one of said headers.

3. The apparatus of claim l wherein said electromagnetic means comprises a core and a coil ccnnectable in an electric circuit around said core, said core connected by one end to one of said headers.

4. rl`he apparatus of claim 3, wherein said resiliently flexible sleeve is circumferentially corrugated and is connected by one end to `said core and by its other end to a marginal edge portion of said opening.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 153,776 8/74 Mason 16S- 83 2,602,644 7/52 Sandstrom 165-84 2,653,799 9/53 Stalin et al 165-83 2,815,193 12/57 Brown 16584 2,988,335 6/61 Disinger et al 165-83 CHARLES SUKALO, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN APPARATUS FOR THE TREATING OF LIQUIDS, AN OUTER HOUSING HAVING INLET AND OULET OPENINGS, A HEAT EXCHANGER UNIT WITHIN SAID HOUSING, SAID HEAT EXCHANGER INIT COMPRISING SPACED HEADERS EACH HAVING AN OPENING AND RIGID TUBES CONNECTING SAID HEADERS, MEANS MOUNTING SAID HEAT EXCHANGE UNIT WITHIN SAID HOUSING COMPRISING A BRACKET INCLUDING A CORRUGATED PORTION CONNECTING EACH SAID HEADER AND THE WALL OF SAID HOUSING, SAID BRACKETS DEFINING BETWEEN THEM AN AIR AND LIQUID TIGHT CHAMBER WITHIN SAID HOUSING ELECTROMAGNETIC MEANS EXTENDING THROUGH AN OPENING IN SAID HOUSING CONNECTED TO SAID HEAT EXCHANGE UNIT FOR IMPARTING RAPID VIBRATIONS TO SAID UNIT, AND A RESILIENTLY FLEXIBLE SLEEVE SURROUNDING SAID ELECTROMAGNETIC MEANS DEFINING AN AIR AND LIQUID TIGHT CHAMBER THEREAROUND BETWEEN SAID HOUSING AND SAID HEAT EXCHANGE UNIT. 